Relax With Yoga: 8. The Bandhas—Mystic Breathing Exercises

Uddiana Bandha

By a very strong expiration, the lungs are emptied and driven against the upper part of the thorax, carrying the diaphragm along with them. The intestines are thereby taken up to fill the empty space, and the stomach is made so slender that it might be encompassed by the span of a hand.

Jalandhara Bandha

Contract your throat and press your chin firmly against your breast about four inches from the heart.

According to Hindu sages, the ten mudras destroy old age and death, having been given out by the god Siva, and also confer the eight siddhis or miraculous powers. The old text enjoins the student to secrecy, saying, "This should be carefully kept secret as a box of diamonds and should not be told to anybody—just as the illicit connection with a married woman of noble family." Descriptions of the ten mudras follow.

Maha Mudra

Pressing the anus with the left heel and stretching the left leg, take hold of the toes with your hand. Then practice the Jalandhara Bandha (described above), and draw your breath through the susumna (the space behind the navel). Then the kundalini (the sleeping goddess within the internal organs) becomes straight, just as a coiled snake does when struck, and the ida (left nostril) and pingala (right nostril)

Maha Vedha

Draw in your breath with a concentrated mind and stop the upward and downward course of breath by the Jalandhara Bandha. Sitting on the ground with your body on your hands, gently seat and raise yourself repeatedly. Then breathe out. The body assumes a deathlike aspect in this exercise.

Kechari Mudra

This is not likely to appeal to the Westerner seeking beneficial aspects of Yoga. This mudra requires the following preparation: By slight daily cutting, continued for six months, the ligament which holds down the tongue is severed. By repeated pulling, the tongue is made long enough to reach the eyebrows. The mudra is performed by turning the tongue up and in, so that it enters the hole in the palate where the three nadis (nerves) join. Simultaneously, the eyes should be fixed firmly between the brows.

Shakati Chalana

Named as the last of the ten mudras, this is described as follows: Having inhaled through the right nostril, the practitioner should retain his breath and "manipulate the kundalini for about an hour and a half, both at morning and evening twilights." The Sanskrit text states:

"As one forces open the door with a key, so should the Yogi force open the door of moksha (state of bliss) by the kundalini. The kundalini gives mukti (deliverance) to the Yogis and bondage to the fools. He who knows her, knows Yoga. He who causes that shakti (the kundalini) to move (from the muladhara in the pelvic region upwards) is freed without doubt. Between the ganges (ida) and jamuna (pingala) there sits the young widow inspiring pity. He (the Yogi) should despoil her forcibly, for it leads one to the supreme seat of Vishnu. You should awaken the sleeping serpent (kundalini) by taking told of its tail. Seated in the vajrasena posture, firmly take hold of the ankle and slowly beat with them the kanda [a something below the navel from